


Serenity

by flibbertygigget



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-28 22:38:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13281321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flibbertygigget/pseuds/flibbertygigget
Summary: Minerva is happy and Severus is content.





	Serenity

Severus was surprised when he turned around, ready to take a quick shower, have a quick nightcap, and go to bed, and found Professor McGonagall staring at him, a strange expression on her face. For a moment he just stared back, but then he shook his head and began to put away the ingredients that remained on his workbench.

“You seem happy,” she said. Severus shrugged.

“I’ve had a productive night, Professor.”

“It’s Minerva, Severus,” she said. “And it’s not a bad thing. It’s just… well…”

“Unexpected? Unprecedented, even?” He sneered at her. “Believe it or not, I am capable of having some kind of serenity, particularly when there are no dunderheads around trying to blow up my classroom.”

“Surely they aren’t that bad.” Severus raised an eyebrow.

“February 1974. Your classroom. I believe that I heard you once refer to it as The Elephant Incident.” Professor McGonagall winced.

“Yes, I quite see your point.”

“And you’re lucky. You don’t teach a subject where even the simplest of tasks has at least three ways it could go wrong if performed by first years who are apparently illiterate or fifth years who are too busy checking out a classmate’s arse to check that their cauldron isn’t boiling over.” He pulled on his dragonhide gloves and took the cooling cauldron over to the sink in the corner of his lab. “I swear they’re getting stupider by the day.”

“So, what had you so happy?” she said again. Severus shook his head.

“Oh, nothing in particular. Just a rather successful evening of experimentation. I believe that I may have finally found a way to extend the shelf life of the Blood Replenishing Potion, so I’ll have to only make _that_ about once a month. Haven’t really gotten anywhere on my other experiments, but it was still…” He trailed off. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, no reason,” McGonagall said. “It’s just that I don’t think I’ve see you smile like that in the four years you’ve worked here. Maybe not for even longer.” Severus automatically tried to scowl, but that just made his mouth try to grin wider. Almost against his will, he felt a noise that almost sounded like a laugh work its way through his throat.

“What, is that a new rule? No smiling; 10 points from Slytherin?”

“No,” she said. Severus put away the now-cleaned cauldron and stretched contentedly. “Would you care for a game of chess?”

“I was planning on going to bed,” Severus admitted. “But I suppose one game wouldn’t hurt.”

“Quite the opposite, since I was planning on breaking out the good whiskey.” This time Severus didn’t even try to stop his grin.

“Well, then, this will definitely be worth it,” he said. “Ready for a humiliating defeat by a Slytherin, Professor?”

“I wouldn’t be so confident about that, Severus,” she said. “And didn’t I tell you to call me Minerva?”

“Fine, _Minerva_ ,” Severus said. “Prepare to be thrashed.”

“Not in your life, young man.”


End file.
